How to get a lot of people to come to your fundraiser? To have the best possible answer for this question I studied successful college fundraisers held at GroupRaise and paid close attention to how they were promoted. I even tested them out myself! On this post, I’ve put together all the learnings you can apply to get a lot of attendance and support when hosting your next fundraising dinner.

Promotion for college fundraisers in a nutshell

The key is me to you, then me to many. If you are about to send out an email blast, mass invite on Facebook, or post on group chat, hold your horses! Whether you are hosting for your own club or a charity organization, we will make sure that you have an awesome fundraising experience.

Hey all! I’m Bridget, I’m from GroupRaise and I’ve also hosted a fundraiser myself. You can check out the video if you haven’t seen it. And I know from my experience that eating was definitely not the hardest part. It was getting a lot of people to come and eat with me. So I wanted to share with you my own experience and what I’ve learned from studying college fundraisers: the organizers, how they’ve managed to bring a lot of people to their events and host really fun fundraisers that people have loved. So what I am about to explain are principles that apply whether you want 20, 50 or 200 people to show up at your fundraiser.

Me to you

The first action item is me to you. Keep it personal. So just as great leaders, heroes and companies are born by having a few super committed individuals around, you need to make sure that the 10-20 people that you really wanna see at your fundraiser are excited, committed and eager to invite their friends. Definitely do not start with a mass invite to a Facebook event. Instead, start with a direct and personal invitation.

Remember the last time that you got a Facebook notification that just popped up on your phone versus when you met up with a friend, someone called you or messaged you personally. Same invitation, completely different reactions. This is because your feeling important and cared. This person want’s you to be at their event.

Tell them to bring a friend

So when extending this invitation, either in person, calling or texting, make sure to tell that person that they can bring a friend. We humans love to do thing in groups. So making concrete plans is so much easier when a friend’s involved.

It also means that if you invite 10 of your friends and they invite 2 of theirs, then you’ve got 30 people that are excited and eager to go to your fundraiser.

Use your RSVP page

Remember to use your GroupRaise RSVP page that has all the details to your event, it’s easily shareable and if there’s one thing we’ve learned: the more people that you get to commit on this page, the more funds you are gonna raise for your organization.

Me to many

Once the me to you invitation is done, it’s time for the blast: me to many. Put on your messenger hat and share your RSVP page on Facebook posts, group chats, faculty announcements, email blasts and on flyers. When doing so, make sure to make your important friends co-hosts so they can spread the invitation to their circle of friends, thus expanding your audience.

Make sure to extend the invitation to other clubs or organizations that have similar interests to your groups. Offer to help them with their next fundraiser by turning up and supporting them in returns to them coming to your fundraising event.

Invite them to a dinner with friends

But wait! What goes into the invitation? College fundraisers should be more than just a charitable event. Whether you are raising for a charity or your own organization, your fundraising dinner is a place for people to eat and socialize. This is what makes your event so unique and fun. So instead of “Hey, will you come to my fundraiser?”, tell them about the experience they’ll get, the awesome food, who’s coming, and of course, what this dinner means to you.

To sum it up, start with personalized invitations to your close circle of friends. When you invite them, be sure to tell them to bring a friend. And get them to RSVP on your meal page. Remember: your invitation is not just to a fundraiser, but to a dinner with friends who support an awesome cause and are there just for you. You’ve got this: super simple, super delicious!

Are you planning on hosting an unreal fundraiser? If so, you should check out our GroupRaise blog for more promotion tips.

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